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A revolution is any fundamental change in the social or political
aspects of a state. Most revolutions are political, occurring when the citizens of a
country try to oust the existing government and replace it with a new one. Political
revolutions tend to be tumultuous, violent events. There is no clear-cut explanation
as to why people revolt, but scholars believe that some or all of the following
factors lead to revolution:

Injustice: Aristotle argued that the cause of revolution was
the perception of injustice. If the underclasses feel that they are being
treated unjustly, they will revolt.

Relative deprivation: Some scholars have argued that
revolutions occur after a period of good times has ended. The citizens begin to
expect a higher quality of life and feel cheated when they perceive a stagnation
or decline in the quality of their lives.

State of the government: Revolutions are more likely to
happen in countries with corrupt governments. If citizens believe in the
efficacy of their government, then revolution is unlikely. But if a regime
appears to exist solely to enrich the rulers, then revolution is more likely.

The military: As the strongest power in most states, the
military frequently determines whether a revolution will occur and be
successful. If the military backs the government, then revolution is unlikely. A
turning point in many revolutions occurs when soldiers decide to stop obeying
the government and decide to fight alongside the revolutionaries.

Revolutions in History

Although people have always rebelled against their rulers and governments,
the modern area witnessed many significant revolutions. Since the sixteenth
century, most revolutions have been attempts to overthrow traditional regimes in
the name of liberty. In the twentieth century alone, there were important
revolutions in Russia, China, Egypt, and parts of communist Eastern Europe, as
well as countless others in smaller countries. Revolutions, and countering
revolutions, were a driving force of foreign policy in the twentieth century.
However, three revolutions in particular have served as models for most of the
world’s revolutions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:

American Revolution (1776–1783): Leaders of the American
Revolution overthrew British colonial rule to establish an independent
republic. These colonial leaders considered the revolution to be a necessary
evil and restricted the use of violence. Although the revolution affected
the lives of most Americans, there was little social upheaval.

French Revolution (1788–1799): The French Revolution
began much as the American Revolution had but quickly turned violent. Tens
of thousands of French citizens were executed during Maximilian
Robespierre’s so-called Reign of Terror. Order was restored only when
Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of the government.

Russian Revolution (1917): Russian revolutionaries sought
both the removal of the monarchy and the complete restructuring of civil
society in accordance with Vladimir Lenin’s version of communism. The second
phase of the Russian Revolution served as the model for dozens of other
communist revolutions.

Fostering Revolution

Some nations have encouraged and supported revolutions in other
countries as a foreign policy tool. For most of its existence, the Soviet
Union promoted communist parties and revolutions around the world, most
notoriously through the Comintern. Similarly, the United States fostered
revolutions in such places as Iraq, Iran, Guatemala, and
Nicaragua.

MAJOR REVOLUTIONS IN MODERN HISTORY

Revolution

Place

Dates

Major Impact

English Civil War

England

1642–1653

Set the stage for limited monarchy, and eventually
democracy, in England

Glorious Revolution

England

1688

Permanently ended absolute monarchy in
England

American Revolution

United States

1775–1783

Created the first modern democratic
state

French Revolution

France

1789–1799

Destroyed the old French monarchy, led to the creation
of the French nation-state, and promoted nationalism around
Europe

Haitian Revolution

Haiti

1804

Created the first free black republic

French Revolution of 1830

France

1830

Permanently ended French monarchy

Mexican Revolution

Mexico

1910

Overthrew the dictator Porfirio Díaz and created the
modern Mexican state

Russian Revolution

Russia

1917

Ended czarist rule in Russia and created the first
communist state

Spanish Revolution

Spain

1936

Turned Spain into a fascist state

Chinese Civil War

China

1949

Turned China into a communist state

Algerian War of Independence

Algeria

1954–1962

Ended French imperial control of
Algeria

Cuban Revolution

Cuba

1959

Overthrew Batista and created a communist
regime

Iranian Revolution

Iran

1979

Overthrew the shah and created an Islamic
regime

Nicaraguan Revolution

Nicaragua

1979

Overthrew the despotic regime and brought Marxist
Sandinistas to power

Revolutions of 1989

Eastern Europe

1989

Ended Soviet and communist rule of many Eastern European
states

Success and Failure

Revolutions are extremely difficult to achieve. For a revolution to
succeed, many people must agree that the government needs to be overthrown, and
these people must be willing to put themselves in danger and prepare for the
possibility of civil war. Moreover, revolutions usually fail. For example, in
Europe in 1848, democratic ideas and the free market spawned a series of
revolutions across the continent. Most of them failed miserably, and perhaps the
main impact of the revolutions of 1848 was the strengthening of authoritarian
rule.

The Industrial Revolution

Not all revolutions are political. A social
revolution is a revolution that transforms society or the
economy without drastically altering the existing political system. The
Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
had a major impact on every country in the world. Beginning around 1780 in
England, industry started to replace agriculture, and machinery started to
replace manual labor. By the mid-nineteenth century, new forms of production
and transportation—including the invention of the steam engine, mechanical
typesetting, and movies—had fundamentally altered the modern world.
Consequently, the lives of Europeans changed drastically within just a
couple of decades.